Wednesday 3rd March 1976

Fifth Year Gryffindor Boys Dorm, 18:00

Sirius had decided that he wasn't very hungry today. Well, that's what he told his friends even though his stomach was now rumbling. There were more important things than an empty stomach.

Like completing this Animagus Transformation once and for all. And that's what he was going to do.

All it was going to take was a little bit of concentration. Not too difficult. His stomach growled its complaint but Sirius ignored. He already knew how to concentrate with a rumbling stomach. It was a punishment his parents liked to use. Not too often, mind you, or else he would get used to it. And his dear parents did so like their punishments to be... punishing.

Enough of those thoughts! They were a distraction. And he needed no distractions. His stomach growled again. Especially none from his stomach!

Quickly he managed to slip into a meditative trance. He was very good at that now. Between his Occlumency training and all the mediating he had done for this transformation, it was almost an unconscious habit to get into it now. Which was good because that was less time wasted.

A picture of a big, black dog immediately came into view. One with lots of shaggy black hair and bright eyes. Those eyes were intelligent because he was intelligent. The dog was him. He was the dog. It was really that simple.

A massive tingling sensation overcame him. From his head right down to his toes. It wasn't like when he got pins and needles, this was more like the feeling of when his wand chose him but all over his body. It got more intense every second, like his magic was trying to do something. It was almost unbearable when -

James, Peter and Remus suddenly flung open the door, much to his surprise. James was holding a covered plate that smelt really, really nice. His stomach growled even louder this time.

"Told you," James said to Peter and Remus and then turned back to Sirius and held up the plate, "Brought some food up for you because I knew you were lying about being hungry. You shouldn't miss meals anyway."

Sirius tried not to sigh too loudly, even though he was annoyed. He was sure he had nearly had it there.

"Eat," James instructed.

"Fine."

They weren't going to leave him alone otherwise.

"Were you trying to transform?" Peter asked curiously, tilting his head to one side.

"Obviously, Wormtail," James snorted.

"Don't call me that!"

"Would you prefer Wormy?"

As the two of them bickering, Remus sat next to him and rolled his eyes.

"They're ridiculous, aren't they?"

Sirius nodded, unable to reply as he had a mouthful of potato. Some Gryffindors might be happy talking with their mouths full but he certainly wasn't.

The pair of them watched their friends bicker in front of them. As ridiculous as it was, it was still funny. It was kind of nice to sit next to Remus like this, kind of calming.

"You shouldn't really be trying the transformation alone, you know," Remis said carefully.

Sirius swallowed a piece of chicken before answering petulantly, "Peter did."

"He did it by accident. He didn't really think he'd transform."

"But everything was okay for him."

"And it really easily couldn't have been."

"Can't you come up with a better name?" Peter's voice interrupted their conversation.

"But Wormtail is so good!"

"It's not!"

22:30

Sirius waited until everyone's breathing had evened and Peter began to snore - poor guy had a cold - before he slipped out of bed. He was going to try this again and none of them were going to stop him. No way. And, hey, it wasn't like he was alone this time, they were literally all right there. That should satisfy Remus.

Okay, he knew it wouldn't but that didn't matter. Remus was just being overly cautious, as usual. He had to be, he was the sensible one out of all them and a Prefect. But that didn't mean that Sirius had to agree with him. Or follow what he said. So, he wasn't going to. He was going to do what he wanted. And he wanted to sort his Animagus Transformation out. He just had to be very, very quiet. Quieter than Wormtail the rat.

It was a good thing that James' bed was on the same side as his or else Remus would definitely have woken up. No, instead Sirius could sort of safely sot himself down between the two beds and not be seen. Hopefully.

Enough faffing around. It was time to do this. Why did he feel so nervous all of a sudden? No, not feeling nervous. There was no room for nerves here. He was going to do it. Do it now.

With a deep breath, Sirius closed his eyes and folded his legs. More deep breaths. His heart rate slowed and all of the surrounding noises dulled. He was overly aware of his own heart rate.

Ba-dum dum. Ba-dum dum.

Visualise. It was time to visualise. The dog was him. He was the dog. The dog was big. It was black. It had shaggy fur.

Ba-dum dum. Ba-dum dum.

The tingling feeling started again and his heart lurched. Sirius took a deep breath to calm himself and he didn't lose focus.

Ba-dum dum. Ba-dum dum.

More tingling. He hadn't been imagining things earlier, it really did start from the scalp and kind of make its way down his body. It wasn't long before everything else started tingling, even his toes.

Ba-dum dum. Ba-dum dum.

Then everything suddenly got painful and something, everything, moved inside of him.

Sirius couldn't help it, he gasped out loud as it became too sore and then-

Wow, his whole perspective changed, making him feel dizzy. It was like the whole world had shifted, like he had shrunk and everything else was massive.

But he hadn't shrunk, had he? He had actually transformed! That was why his chest of drawers were so big now and he was looking up at his lamp. He had done it! He was a dog!

A weird noise left his mouth, like "Yip!" or something. It shocked him and made him fall over. Did that come from him? That came from him!

Wobbling, he got to his feet (his four feet!) and tried to turn around. Promptly, he fell on his backside with a rather loud 'Thump'.

Sirius stilled, hoping he hadn't woken anyone up. Remus snuffled in his sleep and Peter let out an almighty sore. Phew. He relaxed. That was close.

Too close. Sirius did not want anyone to see him. Not yet. He just wanted to take it all in first.

Because he was a dog! A dog he transformed into! All by himself! Oh, he couldn't believe that this had actually happened!

Spinning around in a circle, Sirius tried to get a good look at himself with no avail. Oh! There was his tail! There was a lot of it. But he couldn't quite get to it...

Wait. What was he doing? Chasing his tail like some sort of dumb animal? Except he was a dumb animal!

Oh, he had to show James! Without even thinking about it, Sirius launched himself at James' bed. It was like his legs just knew what to do and suddenly he was on top of James.

"Argh!" James shouted (screamed more like).

"Woof!" Sirius said happily.

That noise was deliberate this time. Because he could make dog noises! He gave his tail a thump for good measure.

"Argh!" James screeched in a much higher pitch.

And then suddenly James wasn't there anymore and there was a deer in his place. A stag, sorry. James had been very insistent on the difference.

Wait, James turned into a stag? A stag? What on earth?

"Guys, it's the middle of the night," Remus complained in a very tired voice. "Ahh!"

Ah, Remus had seen them then. Or seen what they were.

"What the hell?"

Thursday 4th March 1976

Alcove, First Floor, 12:40

"What I want to know is how did you manage to do your transformation when you were asleep?" Peter demanded. "Me and Sirius really had to try to get ours done!"

"Yeah, what makes you so special?" Sirius added.

They had sequestered themselves in here as everyone went to lunch. It was the first time they had got to talk all day. They had all woken up late after the antics of last night and then classes were really, really intense though that might have had more to do with the fact that they were tired.

James sighed. He really didn't know how he had managed it without really being awake last night. It had just happened when Sirius shocked him. He couldn't explain it. He was just as surprised as they were!

"I don't know!" he finally said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't know, okay? One minute I was asleep, dreaming of already being a stag and then the next thing I knew was that there was a dog on my lap and then I was a stag!"

It really wasn't a comfortable way to wake up. Or a very pleasant one. Especially when your antlers got caught in the freaking curtains around your bed. Now that had been painful. And not there were rips in his curtains. James didn't want to know what the House Elves were going to think of that.

"Wait, hold up," Sirius said, holding up a hand to stop him. "Did you say you were dreaming of being a stag?"

James could hear the laughter in his voice and blushed.

"So what?" he demanded. "I can't help that it's all I've been thinking of lately."

"But dreaming about it?"

"Maybe that's why he managed his transformation," Peter suggested. "Because he was technically visualising himself as a stag in his dream..."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment and then snorted.

"Trust you, James to manage that."

"At least I did it!"

"Yeah, last."

"I was seconds after you!"

"Minutes."

"Whatever!"

"The question is..." Remus interrupted, rubbing his chin like he was one of those old philosophers. "Can you do it again?"

James gave him a perplexed look. "You mean on purpose?"

Monday 8th March 1976

Slytherin Table, Great Hall, 08:15

Regulus frowned as he looked across the Hall. Normally, he wouldn't show that emotion but he felt like it was warranted today. You see, Sirius and his friends were being loud. Louder than usual, and that was saying something. They were also all extremely animated, which wasn't saying much for Potter but when Pettigrew was it was definitely noticeable.

What in Merlin's name were they doing? Or what had they done? Their behaviour really was quite suspect. Should everyone be preparing themselves for another Marauder prank? Regulus hoped not, he still hadn't quite recovered from those straw dolls. Those had been creepy. Really creepy.

But they didn't look like they were plotting something. They just looked extremely happy. Odd.

Well, it was really none of his business, he supposed. No matter how curious he was. What was his business was his breakfast? Something he really should finish.

"What's up?"

Regulus shuddered minutely at the use of that awful phrase. Amycus really should know better. He had better breeding than that. They couldn't let such awful grammar into their vocabulary. It was a slippery slope. How hard was it to say, "Good morning, how are you?" anyway?

"Good morning, Amycus, how are you?"

The other boy snorted and rolled his eyes, which got him a look of disgust from his twin.

"Must you sound like an animal?" Alecto complained.

Amycus ignored her, just like he usually did.

"Your brother being all Gryffindorish again?" he asked Regulus instead.

"Well, he is a Gryffindor," Regulus pointed out.

"Doesn't mean he has to act like one."

Regulus bristled at that. Who was Amycus to judge? It wasn't like it was any of his business. It wasn't anyone's business.

"I don't really asking for your opinion."

He was only a Carrow, after all. What they thought didn't mean much and he shouldn't be voicing his opinions like he did. Unfortunately, Carrows were also more than a bit dense. As evident by what he said next.

"Whatever. I'm not the one with a disgrace of a brother."

It was times like these when Regulus wished he was in Gryffindor just so he could punch Amycus in the mouth. That sort of thing seemed to be accepted there.

Alecto turned up her nose as Amycus grabbed the plate of sausages off her.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Friday 12th March 1976

Hufflepuff Table, 07:45

Tonks watched as Remus flung his head back and laughed. A genuine laugh, not one of those polite ones he did. Those were lame. A proper Remus Lupin laugh came from his stomach and made him close his eyes. Like he was doing right now. It made him look so much less serious than he usually did. And younger too. He always looked so much older than everyone else, like he was carrying this big weight on his shoulders. So, it was nice to see him be a normal teenager.

A normal, very attractive teenager, mind you. Okay, sure, he wasn't visibly muscular like a lot of the older boys were starting to get but he did have muscles! Lots of them. She had felt them often enough when she had literally fallen into him. Too many times to count. He had nice eyes too. Really unusual amber ones. Tonks had tried shifting her own eyes that colour (in the privacy of her own dorm) but could never match their warmth.

Okay, yes! Yes, she had a crush on Remus Lupin. A bad one. A really, really, really bad one. The worst of ones. Why did it have to be Remus? One of the nicest people in the school! It made it even harder to ignore the crush. If he was awful, she could accept that yes, he was handsome but he was a duck therefore not boyfriend material. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here. He was handsome and nice. And intelligent. The perfect combination really. There was definitely no way that he would be interested in her. Ever.

Tonks flinched as she accidentally stabbed her cheek with her fork. That wasn't where her mouth was. She should probably eat her breakfast rather than mooning of Remus. She wondered what Remus was eating...

Okay, now that was just being ridiculous. Why in Merlin's name would it matter what Remus was eating? Coffee, she needed coffee because she obviously wasn't awake enough to process things properly.

"Ahhh," Tonks sighed as she gulped down that liquid gold.

How did people survive without coffee? She knew there were people who could just get up and go on with their day with no caffeine in them whatsoever but there was definitely something wrong with those people. Thankfully, she wasn't and now maybe she could concentrate on getting food into her. There were fried eggs right in front of her and she hadn't claimed one - that's how bad her daydreaming had been.

She laid claim to two and was about to dog in when she reached for the salt and looked up. That was a mistake because that meant she was looking at Remus again.

Lovely, handsome Remus. Oh Merlin, she really did have it bad. So bad. Yep, definitely embarrassing. And maybe even a little humiliating. Her mug completely missed her mouth and spilled onto the table. Okay, it was a lot humiliating. People around her sniggered as she tried to mop it up.

You know what made this worse? The fact that Sirius knew. He actually figured it out before she admitted it to herself. And there was just no way that he was going to keep it to himself without doing something about it. Sirius was just that type of person.

But what was she supposed to do about it? She couldn't just ask him out, Tonks knew that much. She could barely talk around him. It was embarrassing.

And yes, Tonks was quite aware of how hypocritical she was being considering the advice that she had given Cordelia last year (which had worked out pretty well for the other girl from the looks of things). But she couldn't do it. She really couldn't. How were you supposed to ask someone out when you couldn't talk around them? You couldn't. So, she wasn't going to be able to ask Remus out.

And it wasn't like he was going to ask her out. He barely knew she existed. She was just Sirius' little cousin. Nothing else. Or even just a clumsy Hufflepuff. Which would be even worse. Imagine being just known for that? That would be awful.

Did he even like her? Just put up with her? Find her annoying? She did interrupt them a lot... but she did like talking to them! And he always caught her when she fell and never, ever laughed at her, unlike Sirius and James. He was nice. And kind and sweet and sarcastic...

Oh, boys were so confusing.

Wednesday 17th March 1976

Fifth Year Gryffindor Girls Dorm, 07:30

"Aren't you getting a little old for this now?"

Marlene looked away from her mirror so she could look at her best friend.

"Too old for what?"

Lily gave her a look, which Marlene deliberately chose not to understand, and gestured at her.

"All that."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

That really didn't help Lily's mood from the looks of things. If anything, it made it worse as her exasperated look was turned into a frown.

"All this green nonsense."

Marlene looked down at herself and now it was her turn to frown.

"This isn't nonsense."

"Really? You're going to get in trouble for being out of uniform. Again."

Marlene shrugged. She didn't see any problem with that. What was the worst that would happen? Lose some house points? A detention? The thought of either didn't exactly prevent her from doing this.

"I'll wear my robes over it," she said.

Lily just sighed. There was really no point in arguing, she knew that nothing would ever change Marlene's mind. She loved St. Patrick's Day and all the dressing up in green. It was just too much fun. Marlene was never going to give it up. No way.

Hey, at least it was only her dressing in green. She was sure that if the Marauders got behind this, they would make everyone do an Irish jig or something. Her eyes widened. Now there's an idea...

Second Floor Corridor, 22:15

Lily smiled at Amelia Bones. She never thought she would enjoy having Prefect Patrols with someone not in her House but she really did. Well, with most of them. Avery and Rosier were rather disdainful of her. And that was the polite way of putting it. Lily was surprised they didn't just pinch their noses together when they were around her, they stuck them up far enough in the air to avoid her "smell" or whatever they thought she was like. Thankfully they weren't paired up too often, the Head Girl and Boy having some sense, apparently.

But this wasn't meant to be a litany of complaints about fellow Prefects. No, it was meant to be her realising how enjoyable she found Amelia's company. Because she did. Even though she did talk an awful lot about Quidditch. But that was excusable considering she was on the Hufflepuff team. And Lily did enjoy Quidditch as well. Watching it anyway. She didn't think that she would ever have the guts to fly at the speeds the Quidditch players did!

"Quiet patrol, tonight, huh?" Amelia said conversationally.

"Thankfully," Lily replied. "I'm just glad we didn't come across Diggory and Phillips snogging in a broom closets again."

Because that was never fun. And she had caught them four times in the past two weeks. That was just unnecessary, in her opinion. Couldn't they keep that sort of behaviour to before curfew? And Diggory was supposed to be a Quidditch Captain, someone to set an example!

"Oh, I don't know," Amelia said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I quite like telling the seventh years off."

Lily elbowed her good-naturedly. "You only enjoy it because it because you enjoy telling Diggory off."

"Guilty," Amelia admitted unashamedly. "It's his own fault. We catch him fair and square."

Lily just shook her head and smiled. Amelia really was something else sometimes. She would probably like Marlene. But that sounded like chaos waiting to happen so she was not going to be the one to introduce them. No way. She could only deal with small amounts of insanity at a time.

"We're going to have to turn back here," Lily said, indicating to where the stairs were. "Someone else is patrolling down there."

She couldn't remember who. She didn't really pay attention to where all the other Prefects had to go.

"Yeah," Amelia looked down the corridor. "Hey, they're finished that part of their patrol too."

The moonlight caught the person's face. There were no clouds to cover the full moon tonight. It was Emmeline from Ravenclaw. Lily frowned. Only Emmeline. Where was her partner?

"You by yourself, Vance?" Amelia called over to the rather tall and imposing girl.

Emmeline Vance was definitely not someone you wanted to cross. She was sharp, quick-witted and very, very sure of herself. And had wand skills to match.

"Lupin isn't here again." she grumbled, sounding extremely displeased. "That's the third patrol he's missed this year."

That wasn't exactly a bad record but Lily supposed it wasn't fun to do a patrol by yourself.

"He's had to go back home," Lily explained. "Sick Aunt. He goes to her regularly."

Really, really regularly. About once a month or so. He had to go back home a lot and Lily couldn't always remember the reason why. She knew a cousin from Italy came over once and it would be a while before he saw her again or something so he went home for that. Lily remembered him being annoyed that she came over during the school week instead of the weekend.

"Still?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lily shrugged. "She's still hanging on."

"I had a Great Uncle like that," Emmeline offered, shaking her head. "Stubborn old git hung on for years even after Healers told him otherwise. He did always like to prove people wrong."

"That just sucks," was Amelia's opinion.

Thursday 18th March 1976

Hospital Wing, 09:00

"Please can I go, Madam Pomfrey? Please?"

Yes, Remus had resorted to begging and he was unashamed to admit it. Anyone would if they had been trapped in the Hospital Wing for too long. And two days was too long. Not that he had been in there for two days yet but Madam Pomfrey looked like she intended to keep him for another day. Case in point, it was already nine o'clock and his school clothes had yet to be returned to him.

Yes, okay, he knew that in the last year or so he had needed more time than usual to recover (apparently the moon and the wolf did not appreciate puberty, thank you very much) but he didn't need that today! He was feeling, well, not good but okay! And that was pretty damn amazing for him. Just some aching muscles and minimal new cuts. That really was nothing for him. Some of the cuts weren't even from his own claws! They were from running through the forest. They probably wouldn't even scar!

Which meant he should be able to get up, get dressed and go to school. But Madam Pomfrey wasn't having it. She wasn't having it at all and it wasn't fair! She couldn't just hold him prisoner like this!

Well, yes, she could because she was the Medi Witch and all but that didn't mean she should. Especially when he was feeling as good as he could be, considering the circumstances!

"Remus Lupin, you are not leaving that bed and that's final!"

"But-"

"No."

"But, I'm-"

"Mr Lupin!"

With the loudest sigh he could muster, Remus folded his arms and leaned back into the pillows. They were nice and soft but he didn't want soft. He wanted the hard chairs of the classroom! Was that really too much to ask?

Madam Pomfrey paid him absolutely no mind and proceeded to bustle around the Hospital Wing. She had been kind enough to put out his "After the full moon" bag he'd made up for himself for the days he spent in the Hospital Wing. Usually, she didn't let him have it until she had dressed all his wounds and he'd slept for at least five hours. It had books to read and homework for him to do. Neither of which wanted to do because he wanted to be in class!

But that wasn't going to happen so he picked up a book he got on Defence from James for Christmas. It was really interesting.

He had read four chapters before he realised it was lunchtime. And that was a lie because Madam Pomfrey reminded him it was lunchtime by bringing a tray of food over to him and ordering him to eat.

"Eat all that and then I'll check you over and then, only if you are okay, will you be allowed to go to your afternoon classes."

"Really?" Remus asked hopefully.

She shook her head at him but agreed.

He didn't think he'd ever scared down food as fast as that before. He actually gave himself the hiccups. Loud, body shaking ones. Madam Pomfrey found it difficult to get accurate readings from her diagnostic spells because if them.

"Blood pressure good, brushing, healed scrapes, no broken or shattered bones this time..." she muttered, reading the results off. "Any headaches?"

"No, ma'am."

Only a little one. But she didn't need to know that. Though, it didn't look like she believed him if that critical look was anything to go by. Thankfully, she let it go.

"I guess you're good to go then," she said reluctantly.

"Yes!"

"Just, please take it easy."

"I will, I promise."

Anything to get out of here.

"Just one last thing..."

Remus tried not to groan. It better not be something that could keep him in here. But it wasn't.

"You were covered in this," she said, bringing something over to him. "It doesn't match the robes you wore in. But it's all ripped up whatever it was. Did you have something in your pockets?"

Remus looked down in confusion as she tipped a pile of ripped up material into his lap.

"I, I don't think so."

Though there was something oddly familiar about the pieces. The fabric maybe? He lifted up a piece and rubbed it between his fingers. Huh. Tough material.

Oh. He knew what it was. Remus sighed. He would tell his friends off later. And asked them what the hell they thought it would do.

"Well, I guess you're free to go," Madam Pomfrey told him. "Come back if you're feeling dizzy or light-headed."

"I will," he promised, swing his legs out of the bed.

"Moony!" Sirius gleefully called across the Hospital Wing, closely followed by James and Peter. "We are here to rescue you from your boredom!"

"Mr Black, there are sick people in here!" Madam Pomfrey scolded.

He gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry."

James came to a stop beside him and gave Remus a confused look. "You're dressed?"

"I'm free to go," Remus said with a smile. "Your services aren't needed."

"Yes!" his friends cheered.

He started leading them out of the Hospital Wing.

"Though, I do need your services to tell me why there was the remnants of a dog toy all over me?"

Wednesday 24th March 1976

Basement Corridor, 19:00

'Splat!'

"Ew!"

"Gross!"

"Merlin, that stinks!"

There was an awful lot of coughing and spluttering as people ran away from the scene. The scene which Tonks was watching with a very smug expression on her face. The scene which she was very much not running away from because she knew this was going to happen and had come prepared. She had done it, after all.

Dungbombs. She had set of dungbombs. An oldie but a goodie. Quite tame as far as pranks went, admittedly, but this wasn't a prank. This was revenge... of sorts.

Tonks was just sick and tired of a certain set of people thinking they were better than her, that she was the scum of the earth - even worse than Muggleborns to them. They always put their noses up in the air whenever she was around so she thought she would give them an actual reason to do so.

Hence the rather hefty volume of dungbombs she had just set off.

"My eyes burn!"

"Yuck!"

And then more gagging noises.

Perfect. Maybe a little over the top but that made it even better. Because they were all over the top in her dislike of her.

Though she probably should remove herself from the crime scene. Though she was kind of stuck between not wanting to get caught (and therefore not get punished with any luck) and wanting to rub it in their faces that she had done it.

Hmm decisions.

Then the smell started filtering past her nose plugs. Eurgh. That was actually disgusting. Oh, Merlin that was bad.

Away from the scene she went. There was no way she was going to hang around here any longer.

Hi, Petunia,

It feels like I haven't written to you in ages. Which is my fault. I always get myself so busy. I've been brewing more Potions than ever and Professor Flitwick has really taken me under his wing this year. He's the small one so that saying is kind of funny. He says I have a real talent for charms.

I have so much work though, I now understand why you were always working so hard for your O-Levels. There's just so much to remember and I've barely started revising yet!

Anyway, how are you? Are you enjoying your last year in school? Is it really difficult?

I hope you're not too stressed! And I can't wait to see you at Easter!

Love, Lily

Sunday 28th March 1976

Owlery, 11:30

Lily frowned down at the letter in her hands, not sure if she should send it or not. She never did get replies to them. But it just seemed wrong to not be in any contact with Petunia over the year.

Well, it was worth a shot. Maybe she would reply this time. Lily gestured to a school owl and tied the letter to its leg. It would fly to mum and dad's first and then they would send it by normal post. Could you imagine an owl turning up at a muggle school?